Energy Gateway

Bringing new transmission to the West

Customer benets
Energy independence within the PaciCorp footprint and long-term rate stability through increased protection from market price volatility into the future. More exibility and stronger connections across the region to move energy resources where they are or will be needed by customers. Ease current bottlenecks in the transmission network, ensuring reliable, efcient, coordinated service. Access to diverse energy resource areas to support customer growth. Continue the reliability levels that our customers need and expect. More efficient use of existing generating resources while encouraging development of needed new generation, including renewable energy resources, to suppor t customer needs.

Facts about this transmission expansion project

The need for a robust transmission system has been identied by federal and state ofcials and industry experts as critical to meeting the growing needs of consumers as well as evolving energy policies. Yet, for a number of reasons, signicant regional investment has been lacking for almost two decades. PaciCorp, however, is taking the lead and moving forward to invest more than $6 billion to construct approximately 2,000 miles of new high-voltage transmission lines. The investment in new transmission lines will help the company meet the growing electrical needs of its customers while easing transmission congestion and improving the ow of electricity throughout the region.
PaciCorps ambitious plan was rst announced in May 2007, and construction began in February 2009 on the rst segment, with other segments moving forward in siting and permitting processes. Why PaciCorp? PaciCorp is uniquely situated to make these essential investments in the regional transmission system. Through Rocky Mountain Power and Pacic Power, PaciCorp serves more than 1.7 million retail electric customers in Utah, Oregon, Wyoming, Washington, Idaho and northern California. In addition to service to its retail customers, PaciCorp, as one of the largest owners of transmission in the West, provides transmission service to a wide range of other utilities, municipalities, public agencies and independent generators that use PaciCorp lines to deliver electricity to their customers. This not only helps reduce overall costs for customers, this access is also required by federal regulators.

2/10

The Energy Gateway transmission expansion will position PaciCorp to serve the growing needs of its retail customers and network customers while improving the reliability of its overall transmission system. PaciCorp already owns and operates approximately 15,800 miles of transmission lines from southeast Utah to central Washington, and from northeast Wyoming across to Oregon and into California. The transmission expansion will help PaciCorp ensure its system is adequate and capable of meeting future customer load growth. The new lines will move power to customer load centers, particularly in Utah, Oregon and Wyoming. They also will support the needs of our customers seeking a more diverse resource mix. The new transmission segments are a natural expansion of the transmission investment commitments MidAmerican Energy Holdings Company made when it acquired PaciCorp in 2006.

Provides essential new transmission in important, resource-rich areas that are currently without adequate transmission options. A stronger transmission network that provides more capacity and more access will ease congestion throughout the West and ensure reliable, efcient, coordinated service for our customers. The transmission model will enable new markets for and encourage increased development of new energy resources. Other environmental benets include more efcient use of existing resources, a critical rst step in addressing carbon footprint and global climate change issues.

Design features
A unique feature of Energy Gateway is the hub and spoke design of the project. Instead of building to specic generating facilities, the transmission is being built to resource areas, often ahead of specic resources being constructed. From these hubs, power will be collected from a variety of existing, future and even currently unplanned generation sources, then moved back out through the transmission system to customers. This is particularly important for, and designed for, renewable energy resources. This design opens up improved access to load centers, markets and geographic areas rich with new resource potential. It provides exibility and encourages new resource development from increased access and critical transmission capacity. It will help resolve an ongoing regional situation where potential development of new resources is hindered by lack of transmission access, or vice versa, when transmission isnt built until generation resources are built rst. Specic routes for most of the line segments remain to be nalized. The company is working with a variety of local, state and federal entities and involving the public in local meetings. A general map on the facing page shows the full potential build of the project. It may not reect the nal routes or construction sequence. For the most current information, go to pacicorp.com/ energygateway.

Benets
New transmission planned as part of the Energy Gateway project will strengthen the connections between Rocky Mountain Power and Pacic Power. This provides more exibility to move energy resources where they are needed, and to maintain low-cost delivery and service reliability. Designed to provide the company with muchneeded infrastructure to reliably serve its customers, these new projects also provide substantial long-term benets to the entire Western region through a backbone for cost-efcient, exible and diverse resource development in resource-rich areas. Major transmission expansion to resource areas within the West can help lead to energy independence within the PaciCorp footprint and long-term rate stability through increased protection from market price volatility in the future. Transmission is the difference between proactively shaping our customers future rates or leaving it largely exposed to market price volatility and availability of outside resources.

McNary

Walla Walla

Hemingway

H
Captain Jack

Midpoint

E
Cedar Hill

Borah Populus

Windstar

D B
Limber Terminal Oquirrh

Creston Bridger

Aeolus

C
Mona

PacifiCorp service area Planned transmission lines: 500 kV minimum voltage 345 kV minimum voltage 230 kV minimum voltage Transmission hub Existing substation
Red Butte

Sigurd

Crystal

This map is for general reference only and reflects the expansion necessary to construct Energy Gateway to its full capacity of 6000 MW. It may not reflect the final routes or construction sequence.

Energy Gateway Transmission Expansion Project

These current in-service dates are planned, but are subject to change based on customer and regional needs.
A Walla Walla to McNary: In-service date undergoing regional review. B Populus to Terminal: Part of the Gateway Central project. Construction underway with projected in-service date of 2010. C Mona to Oquirrh: Also part of the Gateway Central project with projected in-service date of 2013. D Windstar to Populus: Part of Gateway West, with projected in-service date of 2014-2016. E Populus to Hemingway: Also part of Gateway West, with projected in-service date of 2014-2018. F Aeolus to Mona: Part of Gateway South, with projected in-service date of 2017-2019. G Mona to Crystal: Also part of Gateway South, with projected in-service date of 2017-2019. The adjacent Sigurd to Red Butte line has a projected in-service date of 2014. H Hemingway to Captain Jack: In-service date undergoing regional review.

PaciCorps Energy Gateway project is real, its happening and it is under construction. The key to the successful ability to get these projects from concept to reality is a strong collaboration with all who have an interest in the development. This includes all who may be impacted by the development as well as local, state and federal ofcials, and a wide range of other organizations. Consistent, regular communication and an opportunity for interested parties to be heard and their ideas considered makes all the difference in the successful siting of these projects. PaciCorp has and will continue to follow these guidelines throughout the process of planning, siting, permitting and developing these lines. PaciCorp actively pursued partners on key aspects of Energy Gateway and will continue to do what is possible to accommodate broader regional needs. However, our rst priority is building this project to meet the needs of our customers, and we will not delay the work that must be done to benet and protect the interests of our customers. Capital costs increased signicantly in the rst year of the project some 20 percent from original estimates for raw materials alone. These costs are dynamic and continue to evolve. We will carefully and responsibly manage the investments to minimize the nancial impacts on our customers.

Lessons learned as progress continues

Now, more than two years since Energy Gateway was originally announced, the basic premise for Energy Gateway remains sound and the project continues to move forward. Concrete and steel are in the ground and construction is well underway on the Populus to Terminal segment, which is on schedule to go into service in 2010. Planning and siting work continues on several other segments. Flexibility has been added to some later priority segments to prudently respond to cost, projected demand and resource issues, including those identied in PaciCorps most recent long-range energy resource planning tool, the Integrated Resource Plan, released late May 2009. Through this planning process, customer growth forecasts are matched with resource requirements to balance costs and risks while ensuring our customers future energy requirements can be met. The need for new transmission has moved to the forefront throughout the region and the United States in the past year. Developing a more robust transmission system is increasingly seen as critical to the successful expansion of new renewable development, to maintaining a reliable, safe electrical system, and as part of the economic stimulus intended to bring our country out of an economic recession.

For additional information, please visit pacicorp.com/energygateway

February 2010 PaciCorp